If it passes, a lawsuit will immediately be waged against the city. Defending the ban would cost the city at least $1 million.

It's an expensive reality in Albuquerque, where any person can change the city's law as long as they gather 15,000 signatures to put the issue on the ballot and in a special election, get voters to side with their cause.

It worked to get the city's minimum wage raised by a dollar; now supporters of the abortion ban hope it'll work in their favor as well.

"This exact type of legislation has been passed in other states and has been enacted. So we believe it is constitutional," said Tara Shaver, a pro-life activist.

The Albuquerque's branch of the American Civil Liberties Union is standing by. A representative for the ACLU told Action 7 News the ban, if passed, would be violating the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Roe vs. Wade. The organization plans to sue the city for upholding such a law.

"We're probably looking at maybe $1 million in legal fees," said City Councilor Ken Sanchez.

Sanchez and City Councilor Brad Winter are in the process of drafting an amendment to the city charter.

"Basically, we would form a task force, made up of constitutional attorneys," Sanchez said.

The five attorneys will review petitions, like the abortion ban, before the thousands of signatures are inked and the issue is put up for a special election that would cost $700,000.

Sanchez hopes the amendment will change the election process, too, so that, "when something goes on the ballot, it's not during a special election, it's during an election year."

The Catch-22 with Sanchez's idea is that to change the charter so that voter-initiatives only occur during election years, voters themselves would have to approve of it.

The proposal of a task force would need to be approved by the city council. If passed by a majority, it would go into effect immediately.

As far as the abortion ban, that vote is set in stone for Nov. 19. Lawsuits pending or not, supporters like Shaver say the ban will pass.

"We know it will go on a ballot and we're excited to see it move forward, we're completely confident we have the votes of the people," Shaver said.